American Airlines Says It Expects To Start Flying Boeing 737 Max Again Next Year

American Airlines Says It Expects To Start Flying Boeing 737 Max Again Next Year

American Airlines said on Wednesday it expects its fleet of Boeing 737 Max jets to return to passenger service later than expected on Jan. 16, 2019, after the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Department of Transportation (DOT) sign off on revisions intended to remedy flaws that led to the deaths of 346 people in two crashes.

The delay, FAA failed to properly inspect it have multiplied. Boeing insists it has resolved those issues with extensive retrofitting.

[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/06/boeing-says-its-open-to-changing-the-name-of-the-737-max-to-something-thats-not-associated-with-plane-crashes/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/orxfij7807gstyfs9lmm.jpg” title=”Boeing Says It’s Open To Changing The Name Of The 737 Max To Something That’s Not Associated With Plane Crashes” excerpt=”After three months of being grounded following two fatal crashes in Ethiopia and Indonesia, the 737 Max may be up for a rebranding.”]

United Airlines has the 737 Max removed from its flight schedule until December 19, 2019, while Southwest Airlines has it removed until January 5, 2020, according to the Washington Post.

The airline said in a statement to the Post that “American Airlines anticipates that the impending software updates to the Boeing 737 Max will lead to re-certification of the aircraft later this year and resumption of commercial service in January 2020. We are in continuous contact with the Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Transportation.” However, in another statement to the paper, the FAA said there is “not a prescribed timeline” for the 737 Max’s return to service and it had not told airlines there is.

Bloomberg reported this week that European regulators are not satisfied with the changes that Boeing hopes will get it the all clear signal from the FAA, which could possibly mean that the plane will return to service without their support. European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) officials told senior U.S. counterparts that one element of the fixes, having two flight control computers operate simultaneously, goes against decades of prior design and has not been adequately tested, the news agency wrote.

An EASA spokesperson, however, denied that the agency had any “specific concerns” that would lead it to contradict any U.S. conclusions about the 737 Max’s future safety. The Southwest pilots’ union, however, recently filed a lawsuit arguing that Boeing deliberately put profits before safety and “made a calculated decision to rush a re-engined aircraft to market to secure its single-aisle market share and prioritise its bottom line.”

Boeing took a $US4.9 billion ($7 billion) after-tax charge due to the groundings and cost of repairs earlier this year. The 737 Max line was once Boeing’s fastest-selling jet, but after the two crashes and groundings, sales have slumped significantly and the manufacturer has finalised only a handful of sales since from its business jet division.

[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2019/07/turn-it-off-and-on-again-every-149-hours-is-a-concerning-remedy-for-a-300-million-airbus-planes-software-bug/” thumb=”https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-large/m46wwkkpirnc7lwvefhf.jpg” title=”‘Turn It Off And On Again Every 149 Hours’ Is A Concerning Remedy For A $400 Million Airbus Plane’s Software Bug” excerpt=”Having to occasionally reboot a sluggish laptop after a few days of use is a minor inconvenience for a $1000 gadget. But what about a $436 million+ commercial plane? Airlines who haven’t performed a recent software update on certain models of the Airbus A350 are being told they must completely power cycle the aircraft every 149 hours or risk “…partial or total loss of some avionics systems or functions,” according to the EASA.”] 


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.